Beloved Kosher Baker & Grandfather of 21 G.u.n.n.e.d Down in Broad Daylight at NYC Park — One Month Later, Shocking M.u.r.d.e.r Still a C.h.i.l.l.i.n.g Mystery
The killing of a Jewish baker who also served as a rabbi remains an unsolved mystery more than a month after he was found fatally shot near a lake in a Queens park.
Albert Itzkowitz, 75, was gunned down in broad daylight on May 18. He suffered gunshot wounds to the neck and back and was discovered along the shoreline of Kissena Lake shortly before 5 p.m., leaving investigators with a case that continues to baffle both police and his grieving family.
The NYPD said detectives are investigating every possible motive and have ruled nothing out, including the possibility that Itzkowitz was the victim of an antisemitic hate crime.
“He didn’t have any enemies. You can write that down,” his devastated son, Moshe Oelbaum, told The Post just days after the killing.
Investigators have pieced together Itzkowitz’s final hours before the fatal encounter with one or more unidentified attackers.
Police said the observant Jew, who also worked as a rabbi at a nursing home, left his home in Kew Gardens Hills shortly before 6:15 a.m. He spent about two hours at a synagogue before stopping at a Capital One bank, where he made a withdrawal around 9 a.m.
According to police, Itzkowitz returned home shortly after 10 a.m., briefly stepped outside around 10:55 a.m. for about a minute, then went back inside before leaving again at 11 a.m. He walked to a nearby Walgreens, where he made a purchase.
Surveillance footage later captured his vehicle approaching Kissena Park, a wooded park surrounding a scenic lake, just before 11:30 a.m., investigators said.
During a press conference on Thursday, his daughter, Leah Livshitz, said the park was a peaceful place her father “regularly visited during his lunch break.”
Police believe Itzkowitz had gone there to sunbathe. He was found with a beach chair, a baseball cap, sunglasses and a crossword puzzle.
What happened between his arrival at the park and the discovery of his body roughly five hours later remains a mystery.
Police have identified neither a suspect nor a motive, and questions from detectives about whether Itzkowitz had conflicts with anyone only deepened his family’s disbelief.
“When the police were asking us, ‘Does he have any enemies? Does he have any neighbors who he had troubles with?’ We all were crying,” Oelbaum recalled.
“But at the same time, we started laughing out loud and everyone started smiling. ‘Enemies?’ The thought is comical to us. He was the sweetest, kindest man. So nice and lovely to everyone.”
Itzkowitz previously owned G&I Kosher Bakery on Main Street, a longtime neighborhood fixture before it closed. He also volunteered as an EMT, according to his daughter.
Outside of his work, Livshitz said her father was devoted to his family, especially his wife, who died on April 30—just weeks before he was killed.
On Thursday, family members gathered at the park alongside local elected officials to announce a new reward while again raising concerns that Itzkowitz may have been targeted because he was Jewish.
“Daddy was visibly Jewish,” an emotional Livshitz said.
Police, however, noted that Itzkowitz was wearing clothing with “no distinguishing religious factors” that would have identified him as Jewish when he was found.
The NYPD has not classified the investigation as a hate crime but said that possibility has not been ruled out.
As the investigation continues, detectives are still seeking leads.
Tzvi Yonie Itzkowitz, 34, the victim’s youngest son, announced that the family would match the $10,000 reward already offered through Crime Stoppers, bringing the total reward to $20,000 for information leading to an arrest.
“The police estimate there could have been 200 to 300 people here. It’s a very large park,” Itzkowitz said. “They’re asking that anyone who saw anything or knows anything to come forward.”
